I do not let my past dictate my future. I do not use the abuse as an excuse. I do not let my failures stop me from succeeding. I’m in charge of my life. Of building a strong foundation for my children’s lives.

Recently I gave this advice to someone close to me who threw out excuse after excuse for why they don’t or won’t do things. With every excuse, I countered. After so many I simply said, “No. Wait. Stop. Those are excuses. No more excuses. They don’t work anymore.” It was a harsh thing to say, but I believe I needed to. Excuses get in the way and make people miserable because they feel they can’t do the things they only dream of doing.

I say, stop dreaming and do it. No more excuses. Get out there and live life. You may fail, but that’s okay. Take it as a lesson learned. Try a different approach. Try multiple times before thinking about giving up. Then, and only then, is it okay to give up. Except, don’t give up on yourself. Try something new. Find something else. Keep trying until you find what you can do, but only stop if it’s what you want.